Major Theories & Scien5fic Method. Theories Why do we need them? Structural Func5onalism 9/26/16

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1 Major Theories & Scien5fic Method Mrs. Buccieri Theories Why do we need them? We rely on theory every day to make sense of our lives and problems Social theory is used to explain experiences and ideas about the world We need different types of theories to explain different things Structural Func5onalism (Macro) Conflict Theory (Macro) Gender Conflict Race Conflict Symbolic Interac5onism (Micro) Structural Func5onalism society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. looks at social structures and looks at the social structures social func5ons Social structures: religion, police, media, sports Three major theorists Auguste Comte Emile Durkheim Herbert Spencer 1

2 Structural Func5onalism Two types of func5ons Manifest func5ons Posi5ve intended consequences Latent func5ons Posi5ve unintended consequences Dysfunc5ons Social pa\ern that disrupts the opera5on of society Can mean different things to different people Inmate gangs Conflict Theory opposite of Structural Func5onalism society is an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change see the world in a con5nual struggle assumes social behavior is best understood in terms of tensions between groups over power and resources Conflict theorists Karl Marx Max Weber C. Wright Mills Conflict Theory highlights factors such as class, race, ethnicity, gender and age are linked to inequality in terms of money, power, educa5on and social pres5ge. People who use this approach study the ongoing conflict between the dominant and disadvantaged categories of people. rich related to poor, white people in rela5on to people of color, men in rela5on to women 2

3 Gender-Conflict Theory the study of society that focuses on inequality between men and women makes us aware of the ways our society puts men in posi5ons over women men are considered head of the household, men typically make more money than women in the same jobs gender differences are socially constructed Gender-Conflict Theory reflects white women perspec5ve and ignores unique viewpoints of women of color Intersec5onality People are affected by their race, gender, sexual orienta5on, class, age and global loca5on The intersec5on if various statuses and the inequality associated with them need to be studied together and apart Race-Conflict Theory focuses on the inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories white people have social advantages over people of color like higher incomes, more schooling, be\er health Color-blindness Ignore skin color Cri5cs say it ignores unique experiences and social consequences of of racial minori5es The new racism? 3

4 Symbolic Interac5onism theory that sees society as the produc5on of the everyday interac5ons of people through the use of symbols Face to face, phone, , social media Words, gestures (shoulder shrug, thumbs up) Symbolic Interac5onism Basic principles Humans have the capacity for thought The capacity for thought is shaped by social interac5on People learn meanings of symbols through social interac5ons Meanings and symbols allow people to carry on human interac5on People can modify the meanings and symbols they use based on their interpreta5on The intertwined pa\erns of ac5on and interac5on make up groups and socie5es Auguste Comte Coined the term Sociology Scien5fic approach Society operates according to certain laws 4

5 Karl Marx Theory of Capitalism Capitalist a.k.a. bourgeoisie own the means of produc5on ( factories, machines, tools etc.) Proletariat owns li\le or nothing except for their capacity to work Exploita5on Capitalist exploit proletariat Compe55on requires capitalist to keep costs low, including labor Karl Marx Aliena5on Disconnected from ones work, coworkers, labor and human nature Capitalism reduced to being one means to an end: earning money Labor is not a natural expression of human skill, abili5es and crea5vity Aliena5on increases between workers because of compe55on and the inability to relate to each other Karl Marx Proletarian Revolu5on Communist Society Capitalist distorted the reality False Consciousness Proletariats believed capitalism was beneficial Class Consciousness Become aware and understand capitalism and their role Prerequisite for Proletarian Revolu5on 5

6 Max Weber Ra5onaliza5on Process of social structures becoming increasingly characterized by the most direct and efficient means to an end Capitalism ra5onal because of con5nuous efforts to make produc5on more efficient Ra5onaliza5on Emile Durkheim Structural Func5onalist Marx & Weber cri5cal Durkheim had posi5ve view of structures Social Facts Social structures and cultural norms & values that stand apart from and impose themselves on people US Government, Universi5es Constraints necessary and desirable Emile Durkheim Marx & Weber posi5ve view on humans Crea5ve, thougheul, naturally social Social structures s5fled people s innate characteris5cs (aliena5on, iron cage) Durkheim nega5ve view on humans Slave to their passions, lust, glu\ony and other deadly sins Never could be sa5sfied so they should be limited Social facts are needed to limit these passions 6

7 Emile Durkheim Collec5ve conscience Set of beliefs shared by people throughout society High desirable, good thing for society to have Without we might let our murderous passions run wild and destroy society Durkheim: Suicide Why did one group have a higher suicide rate than another? Not related to psychological or biological factors Cause of different suicide rates not to be found within individuals Social facts caused suicides Durkheim: Suicide Rejec5ng collec5ve conscience that one should not kill oneself Two important characteris5cs Designed to contribute to public understanding Demonstrated the power of sociology to explain a private and person act If sociology can be used to deal with suicide, it could be used to deal with all social phenomena 7

8 Durkheim: Suicide Two underlying social facts Integra5on Strength of the a\achment to society Regula5on Degree of external constraint on people Integra(on Regula(on Low High Low High Egois(c Suicide Altruis(c Suicide Anomic Suicide Fatalis(c Suicide Types of Suicide Egoisi5c Suicide Likely to be found in socie5es/groups when the person is not well integrated in the larger social unit Not part of society, society not part of the person Lack of morality, values, and purpose Likely to commit suicide at the smallest frustra5on Types of Suicide Altruis5c Suicide Likely to be found when the social integra5on is too strong in society/group Literally forced to commit suicide Rev. Jones in Guyana (1978) had suicide followers that knowingly drank poison and gave it to their children Seek to be martyrs 9/11 a\acks They commit suicide because they feel it is their duty to do so 8

9 Types of Suicide Anomic Suicide Likely to occur when regulatory powers of society are disrupted or too weak Factories closing, depression, job loss Creates anomie: the feeling of just driking through society People don t know what society expects of them because they are cut off from social structures Types of Suicide Fatalis5c Suicide Likely to occur when regula5on is too excessive People who feel choked by oppression Slave who takes his life because of hopelessness associated with oppressive regula5on of every ac5on Solidarity Mechanical Unified because they all do they same labor and have similar responsibili5es Strong collec5ve conscience Organic Unified by their differences in labor and responsibili5es Held together by different specializa5ons and services people provided Weak collec5ve conscience 9

10 W.E.B. Du Bois Crucial to Sociology on race Interested in advancing civil rights for African Americans Color Line Physical barrier through skin tone Barrier denied them poli5cal and civil rights Double consciousness two-ness Black Americans want to tear down confron5ng barriers but not give up their tradi5ons, iden5ty and experiences C. Wright Mills Sociological perspec5ve Unemployed not because lack of skill but because there are no jobs Sociological imagina5on The power to see individual, society and other individuals perspec5ve Power Elite Theory Power is not dispersed through society Elite groups hold the majority of power over Americans (state, corporate economy, military The Scien5fic Method The scien5fic method is a structured way to find answers to ques5ons about the world. The scien5fic method is a systema5c search for a thorough understanding of the world. Maximizes objec5vity 10

11 The Scien5fic Method The scien5fic method uses steps: Uncover ques5ons in need of answers. Review the relevant literature. Develop hypotheses (tenta5ve statements about the rela5onship between two or more variables). Choose a research method. Collect data. Analyze the data. Ques5ons in need of answers Larger societal issues Why do women make less than men? Why does society have nega5ve views of people living in poverty? What are the affects of race, gender and educa5on on hiring prac5ces? Personal experiences How does bullying affect high school teens? How does divorce affect children s personal rela5onships? Developing a Hypothesis Educated guess how social phenomena can relate to each other. The more availability of affordable housing, the lower the homeless rate. The greater the police patrol, the safer the neighborhood. The more you come to class the be\er grades you will get. Hypotheses may be confirmed or unconfirmed by research. 11

12 Choosing a Research Method Helps you answer your research ques5on Quan5ta5ve Surveys, experiments Collect large amount of data or sta5s5cal informa5on Qualita5ve Interviews, observa5ons Collect small amount of in-depth descrip5ve or observa5onal material Secondary Analysis Reanalyzing data Collec5ng Data Your data collec5on will either confirm or fail to confirm your hypothesis Can collect data through Reading other studies Observa5ons, interviews, surveys or other means Analyze the Data No5ce correla5ons or trends in data Durkheim hypothesized those involved with people less likely to commit suicide Analyzed data from several European countries and found that higher suicides rates for widowed or divorced people The data confirmed his hypothesis 12

13 Qualita5ve Methods Any method that does not require sta5s5cal data Observa5ons Interviews Open ended ques5ons Capture descrip5ve informa5on of social phenomena or social movements In-depth understanding Small sample sizes, so cannot be generalized to broader popula5on Observa5ons Systema5c watching, listening and recording what takes place in a natural social serng Par5cipant Observa5on Researcher plays a minor role within the group Volunteered at Food Bank to observe their impact on impoverished popula5on Nonpar5cipant Observa5on Researcher plays li\le or no role within group Observing groups in the cafeteria, coffee shop, spor5ng events, etc. Interviews When informa5on is sought out from par5cipants with ques5ons that have been created before the research starts Face to face, phone, internet Prestructured Close ended ques5ons Can be calculated numerically by coding Unstructured Open ended ques5ons Offers a good understanding of respondents and the underlying issues 13

14 Quan5ta5ve Methods Analysis of numerical data derived from surveys or experiments Collect data or use previously collected data Census Bureau, General Social Survey (GSS) Analyze the data using sta5s5cs Descrip5ve Sta5s5cs See trends over 5me or compare differences in groups Inferen5al Sta5s5cs Allows us to use data from a small group and make assump5ons about a larger group Surveys Collec5on of informa5on from a popula5on through ques5onnaires Ques5onnaires Usually delivered by mail or on websites Descrip5ve Survey Designed to gather accurate informa5on of a group Employment of Americans, GPA of college fraterni5es Explanatory Survey Seeks to uncover poten5al causes for observa5ons Ask ques5ons to learn about respondents artudes towards something Experiments Involves manipula5on of one or more characteris5cs in order to examine that effect of that manipula5on Criminal record experiment Independent variable The condi5on being manipulated Race and criminal record Dependent variable Characteris5c that resulted from the manipula5on Whether or not the applicant was called in to interview 14

15 Reliability and Validity Want your research to be trustworthy and accurate Reliability The degree to which your ques5on produces the same result over and over. Is it reliable? Validity The degree to which your ques5on gets an accurate response Does it measure what it is supposed to measure? Ethics Issue of right and wrong Physical and psychological harm Stanley Milgram (1974) experiment How far will people go when given orders from an authority figure? How is this experiment unethical? Ins5tu5onal Review Board (IRB) Respect for persons Par5cipants are to be treated with respect Beneficence As li\le harm as possible to be done Every effort to be made to benefit par5cipants Jus5ce Research should operate on the principle of jus5ce so that burdens and rewards are equal Informed consent Document lis5ng everything the par5cipant will go through 15